Cong warns leaders against loose talk

A day after Union Minister Jairam Ramesh praised the Aam Aadmi Party, the Congress on Thursday warned leaders against indulging in loose talk.

The warning comes at a time when the Congress is battling a credibility crisis after its loss in the four state elections and is struggling to match BJP’s high pitch Lok Sabha poll campaign spearheaded by Narendra Modi.

Ramesh had credited social activist Anna Hazare for the passage of the Lokpal Bill in Parliament, an initiative for which the Congress is lavishing praise on party vice-president Rahul Gandhi. The minister had also advised political parties not to make fun of the AAP.

Reacting bluntly to Ramesh’s remarks, AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said such comments can only come from a person who is not a political worker and has got prominence in the party without undergoing the “rigour.”

Dwivedi said he was not referring to any individual but the reference was clearly to Ramesh and other “over enthusiastic” leaders who are “not aware of the pain one goes through while forming a political party and working as a political activist.”

“Those whose identities are established all of a sudden can say anything because they have not felt that pain, not undergone that rigour,” he told reporters here when asked about Ramesh's remarks on the AAP on Wednesday.

A senior Congress leader said that Dwivedi’s remarks were intended to ensure that the Ramesh effect does not go viral within the party, particularly at a time when leaders are quitting political parties to join the fledgling AAP.

“As far as the Congress is concerned, every single worker and leader is unhappy that such a situation arose. He feels hurt. He is also angry,” he said when asked about Ramesh’s praise for the AAP.

The Congress feels that those joining the fledgling outfit and talking of sacrifice were only attracted to power.

Dwivedi said those who founded the AAP could even be outnumbered by those who are joining the party eyeing the perks of being in power.

“What will be that party's future then? It will be hasty to say anything about them,” Dwivedi said.